Music: Vexed Buck

Nearly all the popular music heard over the air is controlled by American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), a composer’s union which collects royalties on every musical broadcast. Last spring Montana broadcasters got so fed up they had a law passed outlawing ASCAP’s royalties. When ASCAP insisted on royalty payments, one broadcaster filed charges of extortion. Montana authorities then tried to arrest ASCAP’s genial President Gene Buck.

Last week he got too close. In Phoenix, Ariz., the warrant servers nabbed him. Said vexed Mr. Buck: “You’d think I was John Dillinger.”